Life's no Love Song
by dustytiger
Summary: After losing her job at Homeland Security Marissa meets Bull at a bar one night and things progress from there. A look at the beginning of their personal and professional relationship. Stand alone. Marissa/Bull. AU as it predates the show, and changed hire dates. Enjoy!


Title: Life's no Love Song  
Author: Trista Groulx aka dustytiger  
Rating: T (like the show to be safe)  
Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own Bull, it belongs to its network, creators, writers, actors and actresses who bring it to life for us. I am a super poor disabled person please don't sue me.  
Summary: After losing her job at Homeland Security Marissa meets Bull at a bar one night and things progress from there. A look at the beginning of their personal and professional relationship.  
Notes: This idea slapped me in the face as I was making doggie doughnuts for the farmers' market this week, and for some reason my muse actually ran with it so here it is!  
This is a little AU for a few reasons, the first of which is we don't actually know how Bull and Marissa met or how he hired anyone from TAC and it's quite unlikely that it was like this, also the order in which everyone was hired is totally wrong. I've been re-watching the season, and Marissa has worked for Bull for seven years, Benny for three, and Chunk refers to himself as the rookie, so that's wrong.  
I haven't really messed too much with the characters, filled in some blanks and added a bit of history between Bull and Marissa, because there is a definite chemistry there but they don't strike me as the type to have an office romance.  
The odd title comes from me searching for hours for a title, I had a few songs I love lined up, You by Tom Waits, Everyday or The Only One by Bif Naked or Seize the Day by Jonas and the Massive Attraction but none of them were right for the fic, so I came up with something else. Enjoy!

* * *

Marissa Morgan sat at the bar, staring at her empty glass, almost empty, there was still an olive on a toothpick. She couldn't help but notice a man with some kind of whiskey in his glass glancing her way. He was distinguished, with just enough scruff and her type; which might be the exact reason why she should stay far away from him after the day she'd had. Still, she couldn't help but keep looking over. There were other women in the bar, women who would be easier to bed if that was all he was all he wanted, but he wasn't even looking at them. His eyes were only on her and there was something intriguing about that.

"I'll get another, double," Jason Bull told the bartender. "And a gin martini for the lady, although she's too polite to ask, stirred not shaken unlike our friend double-oh-seven with a twist?"

"You're good," she told him, smiling at him, she was really curious about him now, few people could read her and no one had been able to do it so well.

"Jason," he introduced himself.

"Marissa," she said smiling at him, it felt good to be distracted from what was going on.

"You don't strike me as the drinking on a school night type," he told her as the bartender set down their drinks.

She couldn't help but notice he hadn't asked for change. "Well, Jason, I don't have school, as you call it, in the morning tomorrow."

He held up his glass, and smiled. "To new beginnings?"

"To new beginnings," she agreed, clinking her glass with his.

She wasn't the type of woman who would normally let herself be swept up by some charming guy with a nice smile and soothing voice in a bar, but after the day she had had Marissa Morgan was ready for a few changes in her life. As they sipped their drinks they chatted. She surprised herself when she started to talk about her former job, even getting a little personal. There was something almost too easy about him.

"Don't look now but you have another fan, Marissa," he warned her.

"Great," she sighed.

"You might need to trust me if this escalates."

"I think I can trust you," she told him, surprising herself because it was the truth.

"It's Doctor Jason Bull," he told her.

"All right, Jason Bull. I'm Marissa Morgan."

"It's nice to officially meet you."

There was something she found very scintillating about that. If she had had more to drink she would have blamed that, but she was nursing her second martini and the bartender was refilling a water glass that was now also in front of her. He was different from the guys she'd dated before and this was something she wanted to explore.

"You don't think you and the boss is a little cliché?" he asked.

She shrugged and was about to say something when she felt someone touch her. She had to stop herself from screaming, as much as she didn't want the guy to touch her but she didn't want to rick getting kicked out of the bar either. It never ceased to amaze her how alcohol could revert some people back to their caveman state. She knew that her new friend would defuse the situation but she wasn't sure how he might do that.

"Buddy, what the hell?" Bull asked, the clearly drunk man who was now getting far too close to Marissa.

"Oh come on man, you're barely even her friend, you wouldn't even know what to do with a woman like this."

Marissa was about to say something but before she could Bull was on his feet and his lips were on hers. When she had agreed to trust this wasn't what she thought would happen, but she certainly didn't mind. Maybe this was exactly what she needed, to throw caution to the wind and do something just for the sake of doing it for once in her life.

After the drunk guy in the bar backed off it wasn't long before they were in a cab on the way to his place. Neither was the type to give their cab driver a show but, he did have his hand just above her knee the whole ride. While she had thought his head was his Achilles heal, her thumb rubbing behind his ear, which seemed to be working.

She was glad when the cab pulled up to a building because she wasn't sure how much longer she could go without touching those lips again. Once again he pulled money out from his wallet, not expecting any change, and they were soon in his apartment. She looked around, and wondered how anyone could live with so little, not that she had much time to think about it.

This time the kiss wasn't tentative. They both knew what was going to happen next, neither needed to talk about it. They both wanted this, they both needed it. It was more than just a casual bar hook up it felt very good, and she certainly wanted to do it again; even though she way laying awake next to him, her mind still racing about the day.

She got out of the bed and pulled on a robe, his robe and went into the living room. She pulled out her purse, surprised for a moment by the lack of notifications. Then she pulled up the last one, and stared at it again, still not believing it, after everything this was how she was treated. She could understand him ending their affair this way, but not everything. This certainly wasn't how she thought she'd end up losing what had once been her dream job. She heard moving from behind her and dropped her phone back into her purse.

"Leaving already?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "I just- I still feel the need to check in at the office, but I don't have one anymore," she explained.

"Oh," he said.

"You were right before about my boss being it being cliché, but it was what I needed," she found herself explaining, uncertain as to why. "Today he decided to email me to tell me to expect my severance paperwork, that it's easier this way, by email, can you believe that? I knew he wasn't going to leave his wife, I never wanted that, but I never thought it would cost me my job."

"I guess you've got two choices, don't you?"

"Do I?" she asked.

"Although first one you'll have to trust me again."

She looked at him quizzically. "I just met you Jason."

"I know. I can help. I run a trial analysis company, have you heard of that?"

She nodded. "It's a similar to what I do – did."

"Good, then this might work. I can represent you to get your job back. Although, if you do you would have to come clean about your relationship with your former boss in open court, and probably about your other relationships."

"Or?"

"Come work for me. This would make what we just enjoyed a one time thing. What a shame."

She nodded, despite herself, goosebumps forming on her arms. "You just met me."

"I know enough. You probably won't date a boss again. I don't date clients. I need people who can read other people. You need a job. It's win win."

"I need to think about it."

He nodded. "Okay. Meet me tomorrow at the Manx café and let me know what you want. Or don't and we'll pretend this never happened."

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Thank you, Jason."

He nodded and gave her the privacy she needed. She had no idea what she was going to do in the morning but she knew she was going to have a long sleepless night ahead of her. She also knew that whatever she decided what they had shared was over and the next morning their relationship was going to be on a completely different track.

She walked into café and saw him smiling at her then handed her a cup. She took a sip and smiled. Usually she would be surprised that someone could guess her drink, a chai tea latte with a double shot of espresso but nothing would surprise her about Jason Bull, and she knew what she wanted to do now. In almost no time he already knew her better than anyone else.

"I'm very good at what I do," he told her. "So what do you want to do Marissa?"

"I want to work," she told him.

"Good, I'd never find anyone else with your skill set. Follow me to your new office."

They walked over to the TAC building. She had walked past the building more times then she could count. She never thought that she would consider a position there, but now she was excited, more excited then she had been her first day at Homeland Security. This job was going to be hers, she was going to shape it, she wasn't stepping into someone else's mould and that was exhilarating.

"Good morning Doctor Bull," a security guard greeted with a smile.

"Good morning Gerry, this is Marissa she starts today," Bull told him.

"Come by before lunch and I'll have your security pass set up," Gerry told her.

"Thank you," she said.

The two of them rode up the elevator together. A few people got on and off on various floors, all of them greeting Bull, and he knew all their names and introduced them to Marissa. They got off the elevator on the twenty second floor, and there were less people there then she had expected when they stepped off the machine.

"Let me show you around. This is the heart of TAC, everyone you've met so far makes it so we can do what we do up here," he explained. "This is where I keep the top dogs; the people who will argue with me."

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked, clearly confused.

He let out a half laugh. "I don't need yes men, sorry, yes people if you will. Take our in house counsel, Benny Colon, my former brother in law. He wouldn't jump to say yes to a seat on a lifeboat if we were on the Titanic together." He raised his voice. "Isn't that right Benny?!"

"What?" asked Benny looking up from the case file he was looking at.

"Ready for our mock trial today?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I have a question about –who's this?"

"Meet Marissa Morgan."

"Hi," he said nodding toward Marissa. "What does she do?"

"Research, training, whatever I don't feel like doing," he replied, clearly making it up as he went along.

"What's her job title?"

"I don't know yet. You're a lawyer you're good at making up things that sound fancy and important."

"Is that really what you think I do?"

Marissa shook Benny's hand, smiling at him. "It's nice to meet you, this is all new to me as well, right now I'm just learning the ropes, if you need something I'll try to make it happen."

"All right," Benny said. "I have more reading to do to get ready, if you'll excuse me."

"Of course."

"Chunk!" Bull greeted as Chunk Palmer walked in.

"Chunk Palmer?" Marissa asked.

"Oh good, another football fan," Chunk said, shaking her hand.

"Chunk is a fashion stylist now," Bull explained. "Can you find Marissa a new pair of shoes, something in a two or three inch heel?"

"Oh I have just the ticket, are you a size seven by chance?"

"I am, yes," she replied, and a moment later Chunk disappeared.

"How did you?"

"You're wearing those slippers women keep in their purses, for emergencies, my ex-wife loved her heels too," Bull explained. "It's great marketing no one wants to run around a big city in her pantyhose. Unlike my ex though, who loved wearing those slippers, you look like you're missing a limb, you need new shoes, Chunks has shoes. And this is-" he stopped and looked at the young women who was sitting at the computers. "Wait who are you?"

"Cable," she replied, softly. "We met…"

"Right! From the computer store last week. This young woman saved thousands of dollars last week Marissa," Bull explained.

Marissa nodded, realising that it wasn't unusual for him to hire someone on a whim, which made her feel much more at ease about the whirlwind choice she'd made. She'd ask them both about what had really happened the week before but for now she needed to focus on her own role and she knew she was going to have to learn it as she went.

"It's amazing how different a person looks when they aren't forced to wear a polyester uniform," he commented. "You also had those old looking glasses and purple hair last week."

"I thought this look was more appropriate."

"I agree, so your real name is?"

"Cable McCrory," she told him

"I thought Cable was like those servers at chain restaurants who tell you their names are Tequila and Whiskey."

She smiled. "I have ID."

"No need for that."

"I'm still not really sure what I'm doing here."

"You're going to be doing online research. See all those chairs in there? In about thirty minutes they're going to be full of people, your job will be to find everything you can about them. Then Marissa you are going to translate what she tells you from internet jargon to what I need to know during the trial. For this one I want you to go in cold. I'm going to go wrestle some files from Benny, you two get to know each other."

Bull then went into the other room, leaving the two women standing there, more than a little perplexed. Marissa realised she was going to have to help this woman learn her job without knowing her own position yet.

"How long have you worked here?" Cable asked Marissa.

"It's my first day," Marissa replied.

"So I can't ask if he's always like this?"

"He is," Chunk assured her, coming back holding a pair of shoes which he gave to Marissa.

"How long have you worked here?" Cable asked.

"Almost a year, Bull's a little – Bull, but he's a good guy to work for. Do you like the shoes?"

"They're perfect, I didn't think they were out yet," Marissa told him as she slipped them on.

"They're not, but I have connections. Our first eager mock juror seems to have arrived."

"I think this might be my job," she said walking over to him.

"Shoes really do make the woman," Chunk said, as he watched Marissa glide away.

Cable was already tapping away at keys on the computers in front of her. "I'm not wearing those," Cable told him.

"Here's the deal little miss anti-fashion, which, by the way, is still a fashion statement. If I see Uggs on those feet and the thermometer does not show they are needed, they will disappear from under your desk when you them off and instead of your comfy little girl kicks you're sporting you'll have cute grown up lady shoes."

"I – uh…" Cable stammered.

"You will be enrolled in Chunk Palmer's how to walk in heels 101,and you will learn. Trust me your kicks will disappear every time they come off those feet of yours."

"How did you?"

"I've learned a few things from Bull in the last year. While we're at it flip flops are not shoes. If those nasty dirty things show up on this floor you'll learn just how painful fashion can be, because you are young enough to wear sky highs and ace the intense how to walk in heels course. I don't look it but I am evil enough to only have those available in your size," he told her with a sly smile.

Cable nodded and focused on what she was doing. Soon enough the chair were indeed full of people and Cable was looking at the screens, glad that he seemed to know that one was not enough, but there still didn't seem to be enough.

"Um, excuse me, Sir," Cable muttered toward Bull who ignored her. "Sir!?"

"I'm not that old," Bull told her.

"Mister Bull?"

"Doctor Bull, Mister Bull was my father."

She nodded. "Okay, Doctor Bull, one of your fake jury people."

"Mock juror," he corrected.

"Sorry, uh - mock juror."

"Jason," Marissa whispered, trying to get him to soften his approach with his other new hire.

"Sorry," he said to them both. "What were trying to tell me Cable?"

"I installed some new software, and one of them is a facial recognition algorithm that –" she could tell he was confused. "Not important, it's not a hacker programme."

"Do what you need to Cable," he told her.

"Okay, gotcha, so this guy here who is registered as Johanas Abrams is showing up on this new software as Markus Jackson and is a seriously sketchy dude. The real Mister Abrams is an eight five year old great grandfather who lives in upstate New York and probably has no idea this guy is using his name."

"I'm on it," Marissa told Bull picking up her phone. "Hey Matt, it's Marissa." She paused clearly answering a question. "That's true but I found something better, and I have a huge score for you. I'm sending you an address and a picture be there and get this guy and you'll probably find yourself with a few job offers in the near future my friend."

"I am good," Bull muttered himself, as he walked away, knowing he'd made the right choice not only with Marissa but also with the more shy Cable.

He went into the jury area again and soon the mock jurors were filing out, one of them was going to be getting a very big surprise before he left the building thanks to his new hires. He could feel Benny's on him and could almost hear the avalanche of questions that were going to be coming his way as soon as the room was empty.

"What's the deal with you and Marissa?" Benny asked when they were alone.

"I met her last night, we got to talking. She'd just lost her job, and I offered her one."

"There's more to it than that."

Bull shook his head. "I don't think so."

"I don't believe, Jason, she's your type, you like strong successful women."

"And I like wounded birds," Bull told him. "If I were a Freudian there would be a lot to say about that."

"Deflecting and psychologist mode in three sentences that might be a new record for you Doctor Bull."

"I prefer brunettes."

"Everyone has exceptions."

Cable appeared in the doorway. "Doctor Bull, could we maybe talk tech?"

"Look at that one of my new hires needs help. Tech is not my strong suit Cable, that's up to Marissa."

"Yeah, but she just started here."

"I trust her, make a wish list and she'll sort it out for you."

"Um, cool thanks."

He opened the door, letting Cable leave the room first, but dodging Benny in the process, he went to his office. He went to go pour himself a drink but stopped himself and took a bottle of water from the fridge instead. He took a sip and the door to his office opened, he was glad it wasn't Benny coming to finish their earlier conversation. He watched her looking around his office.

"I'm very passionate about my work," he told her.

"I am too," she replied.

"This job? After one day?"

She nodded. "I like what you do here. They say everything happens for a reason."

"You don't strike me as karma type."

She shrugged. "It's hard to be pragmatic all the time."

He nodded. "True. About last night."

"Jason," she sighed.

"Understood, but if you ever feel like going another round I'll never fire you."

She looked at him quizzically. "Really?" she asked.

"Marissa after you've been here a week I won't be able to run my own business without you."

"You think it'll take a week?" she asked.

He shook his head with a smile. "How much is this upgrade gonna cost me?"

"I'll go easy on you," she promised leaving the office.

The End

Notes: Okay, so that was that! My muse just wouldn't shut up 'til this was done haha... chances are she won't talk to me again for a while, but it's nice to have something out there again. This is a stand alone. I'm not one for sequels I'm afraid, but I hope that this will get me writing some more. It's fun to write fun stuff and not just marketing posts haha... Let me know what you think heart and hugz all be kind but please review!


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